Innocent until proven guilty
by ercarterfan
Summary: Carby, can Abby prove her lovers innocence or will an innocent man take the fall for a crime he didn't commit?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of ER. NBC and WB do. I am just borrowing them for a little non-profitable entertainment. I will make no money off this. It is just to flex my creativity for other ER fan's enjoyment

_**Innocent Until Proven Guilty  
**_

It was a normal day in the ER. Everyone was moving right along taking care of those who were most in need. The traumas had been fairly quiet today, giving the doctors who were on time to finish up charts. It was so easy to get behind when they were swamped with patients. No one knew how long the piece and quiet was going to last. Surely somewhere a gang fight was about to break out. County was not famous for its lulls.

Even the board was empty. The ER hadn't been this quiet since the small pox scare. Residents were milling around with out much to do. Dr. Carter and Dr. Lewis were standing at the admit desk pondering their current love lives or lack thereof.

Carter had been dating Abby for a while now, they had gotten together during the small pox scare, and it seemed to be going well. Well, as well as it could be expected. He had debated over and over in his mind whether or not to take it to the next step.

The night crept on in silence. Being slow made it seem to drag on forever. They had the occasional patient, a sore throat and a child with a fever, who turned out to have an ear infection. Yet it was nothing that overwhelmed the staff of County General. The sun rose over the quiet city as the new morning dawned. Time for the day shift to take over the care of Chicago's needy. Dr. Chen and Dr. Kovac came in to take over for Dr. Lewis and Dr. Carter.

Carter had been on for 36 hours straight again. He and Dr. Lewis were left picking up the slack for Dr. Weaver being gone so much. No one knew for sure why Kerri was gone so much lately but no one seemed to be complaining the ER Chief was missing. There had been a newfound peace around the ER with her gone. There was something about Dr. Weaver that made people rejoice when she wasn't at work. It might have been that she was very possessive about her ER, and County was just that HER ER.

Dr. Carter headed out into the Chicago day. It was cold, rainy, and windy. He pulled his coat up around his neck trying to keep the wind out. He hated days like these. He would much rather had it warm and sunny. The cloudy overcast weather gave him a feeling of sadness. The weather hadn't affected him before that Valentines Day nearly three years ago now, but it seemed that ever since he couldn't shake the feeling that came over him when the weather turned cold. He missed Lucy still to this day.

He no longer blamed himself for her untimely death. That was Paul's fault. He was the one who shoved the knife into her over and over again before turning it on Carter and shoving it into his back six times. Carter knew that it was just something that had happened. Paul Sobriki was sick. There was nothing else to it. There was no rhyme or reason as to why it happened it had just happened. He couldn't change it and he definitely couldn't bring Lucy back no matter how much he wanted to. The past was the past and it was going to stay that way.

Carter watched Abby walk into the ER. She was the love of his life now. He never thought that they would be together, especially since he had loved her when she was still dating Luka. When they broke up he was elated. Not because of the pain to either one of them, but because it meant that she could finally be his. She was special to him. A rock in his life, she had been his sponsor when he was going to the AA meetings. AA meetings were part of the parole that Kerri and Mark had put him on when he had gotten back from Atlanta.

He had nearly ruined his career, and the funny thing is, she was the one who had caught him. As much as he wanted to deny that, it was the truth. She saved not only him from sure disaster but from losing his career as well. Where would he be if it weren't for her and her love, although when she turned him in there was nothing between them? His addiction could have sent him someplace that he would rather not think about being.

He stopped heading the direction that he was headed; he would try and steal a couple of moments with her before she headed out to work. Silently he walked a few steps behind her. Captivated by the beauty that was walking towards her job. Carter was in love with Abby and it was the greatest feeling that he had ever had. There was something exciting about knowing that you had found the perfect woman for yourself, and Abby was that one perfect woman for John.

Chen followed her by Luka; they were the ones taking over the day shift. Carter didn't mind working nights all that much, the thing that he missed most when working those long hours was that he couldn't be with Abby. She was going thru a lot right now with her brother recently being diagnosed as Bipolar and Maggie taking off with him, telling her that she could take care of him. That he would need time to adjust to being bipolar and right now he didn't need her.

She could help him adjust better since she was bipolar herself. Abby was upset knowing that Maggie could barely take care of herself let alone take care of Eric. But when Maggie had told her that she was taking Eric back to Minnesota, Abby told her not to bother to call her when they got there, and as far as they were concerned she was done. All she wanted was to be happy and live what was as close to a normal life as she could get. But she didn't know if that was possible.

Abby headed toward the lounge to put her things away. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Carter was following in the same direction. She had missed him last night. Sleeping was not the same with out his warm body curled up next to hers in sweet dreamland. She wondered if he had missed her while he was working, and if he would miss her today when he went home and curled up in the empty bed that she had left just an hour ago. Surely he would, she knew that he loved her. He didn't have to say it even. Abby could tell just by the look in his eyes when he was near her.

"I missed you." He said walking up behind her and encircling his arms around her waist.

"I missed you too." She said putting her things into a locker. Feeling his strong arms wrapped around her small waist. Just a touch from him was enough to make her heart skip a beat. "It's hard to sleep when you're gone at night."

"It will be hard to sleep today while you're gone." He said turning her around so that she was looking at him. He reached down and ran his finger down her check bone. Her skin was so soft, yet her face held an expression of someone who was emotionally worn out. He knew that it was from everything that had happened with her family. He had also vowed that he was going to be there for her no matter what happened. He leaned down and kissed her. She melted into his arms. "I love you."

"I love you too Carter." She said. She wanted so much to stay in his arms but she needed to get to work. "Are you off?"

"Yeah I am. I think I am going to head home and get some sleep." He told her, "or rather try to get some sleep."

"I'm off at four. Are you working tonight too?" She asked hoping against odds that the answer would be no.

"No I'm off tonight. I am working tomorrow morning." He said not wanting to let her go but he knew that she would be needed out on the floor.

"Then I will see you when I get home." She said pulling away from him, "as much as I would like to stay here I need to get to work. You know how Weaver is when we are late."

John knew that all to well, but he also knew that Weaver wasn't here today. "She's gone today."

"I still need to go to work." She said heading toward the door, "don't worry I will see you when I get home." She knew that she would be home in a nine hours and while it might have felt like that was an eternity, she knew it was a rather short time and then she could snuggle freely in the arms of the man who loved her.

He watched her walk out of the lounge. He once again pulled his coat tightly around him and he headed out of the lounge and toward the ambulance bay entrance. He glanced Abby's direction and waved to her as he walked out the door. John walked slowly toward the EL. The cold was biting at him, and hopefully the weather would warm up.

He hadn't driven his jeep because it was almost as fast to take the EL from Abby's apartment to the ER, and it meant that he didn't have to try finding a place to park. He walked up the stairs to catch the train that would take him home.

After a short EL train ride he was back home and found himself walking up the stairs to their apartment. He threw his keys on the table by the door and his coat over a chair and headed to the bedroom. All automatic responses, he was comfortable living here now and couldn't see them living anywhere else. He was amazed at how easy it had been to fall into a routine with Abby and just how comfortable he was with it. Everything here felt so natural. He was tired and could barely keep his eyes open. The night shift had worn him down. As he drifted off to sleep his mind was on Abby and Abby alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Abby wished that her shift would just fly by. She wanted to be home with Carter. She had missed him last night. She didn't know where they were going; the road had been bumpy to say the least. But someone had once told her that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. She hoped that it was true. She hoped that everything that they had been through was just making them stronger as a couple. Nothing was the same anymore and it could never been the same. She wasn't sure how much closer she should let Carter get.

They were living together, but yet she still kept her distance from him. There was something inside of her screaming that she shouldn't get to close. But she couldn't explain to herself what that was. She didn't fear Carter at all, and she knew that he was not like Richard and wouldn't cheat on her. She knew Carter well enough to know that when he said that he would be there for her that was exactly what he meant.

He had been her best friend for a long time. And after what she had done, turning him in for his drug addiction, she was surprised that they were able to be friends. She had always assumed that Carter had forgiven her and that he knew that she was just looking out for him and for the patients that he worked on. She didn't want to see him ruin his career.

Maybe part of that was because even then she cared for him. Not the way that she did now, but more along the lines of a dear friend. John was her boyfriend now. How could she not let him into her life more? Maybe it was because she was afraid. Abby was still afraid that she could still end up bi-polar just like Maggie. The bi-polar ate at her like the dreaded disease that it was. She knew she was past the time of her life when she would have had her first break, but it was still there in the back of her mind, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to drag Carter fully into her crazy family.

She knew that Carter wanted children, and she knew that was something that she couldn't give him. She feared that her children would be bi-polar and that was something that she wasn't willing to pass on to anyone else. She had to grow up with it. Living through it once was enough. Dr. Weaver's voice snapped Abby from her thoughts.

"Abby we need you over here now." Dr. Weaver snapped at Abby for the second time.

Abby heard everything that was going on around her. She managed to follow and do what was needed but during the entire trauma that they were running she couldn't get her mind off of him.

They finished the trauma and Abby headed into the lounge and grabbed a cup of coffee. She stood there staring blankly at the wall. Thoughts of Carter consumed her. He was in her head all the time. She had never thought about anyone as much as she thought about him. They definitely had something special, she just wished that she was more prepared, better prepared to handle a serious relationship.

She walked out of the lounge and out the ambulance bay door and lit a cigarette that she pulled from her scrub jacket. Whether they were together or apart Carter was in her thoughts and she couldn't understand how after such a short period of time that he consumed her. She had never felt like this before. Richard, or Luka for that matter, was never in her head like this. If this was love, real love, she didn't know if she wanted it.

Carter's sleep was plagued by dreams. The sleep wasn't peaceful far from it. He ended up tossing and turning trying to get away from the painful visions that were flying before his eyes.

Abby at the time that Carter was at home sleeping busied herself in the ER. There was always something that needed to be done, even if it was slow. She made sure that all the crash carts were fully stocked and that the rooms had been fully restocked. She then changed all the IV bags that needed to be done. She then looked up at the clock for the hundredth time today. The clock said 4 now.

The end of her shift had come and she could now go home. She knew Carter would be there waiting for her, more than likely sound asleep. She put her things into the locker that they shared together. Carter had let her start using his locker when they started dating. She thought that was extremely nice of him, and it was nice not to have to stash her stuff at the admitting desk where it was out in the open.

Carter's dreams were intensifying. The horror that was flashing in his mind had him gripped in horror. His body broke out in sweat, he knew that in his dream state he needed to do something but he felt completely helpless to stop the images, images that to him were more real than any dream he had ever had.

She put her coat on. The weather was still as nasty if not worse than it was when she had come in that morning. She pulled her coat up around her neck as she headed for the platform. The wind was whipping around her, and it sent a chill thru her entire body. She hurried along to catch her train home. A rain had started to fall and it was being drilled at her by the wind. It cut thru her like a knife. Even her coat brought little protection against the weather.

She started up the stairs to the platform where the train would stop. She stood there; it didn't offer much protection from the elements. She tried to pull her coat closer around her to protect herself as much as she could from the cold and rain. She didn't see the man walk up behind her. For the first time in a long time, Abby wasn't worried about her surroundings. She had let her guard down while she was standing there waiting to go home.

The man dressed in dark clothing stopped behind Abby. He was silent as he came up upon her, and she wasn't aware that he was there behind her until she felt a hand on her shoulder and then a searing pain in her back.

"That's what you get for being a part of taking my life away," she heard a voice say as the stranger drove the knife into her back again, "I hope that doctor of yours suffers just as I did."

Abby knew that voice, but how, he was supposed to be locked up in a mental institution. How could he be standing there on the platform with her? "Paul." She barely got out.

"Don't worry love it won't hurt for long. I should have killed him when I had the chance, but for him losing you will make his life even more miserable. Since I lost the chance to be with my wife and baby." He stabbed the knife into her back twice more. Abby started to slump to the ground. She was losing consciousness fast.

Paul quickly pulled her over and sat her on a bench. He sat down next to her putting his arm around her shoulder so that those passing by would think that they were just sitting and waiting for another train. He hoped that it would take people awhile to realize what had happened to her and by then it would be to late for her. Paul knew that sitting there was dangerous but no one seemed to give a second thought to what appeared to be a couple sitting there. He watched as another train pulled into the station. He had been sitting there with her for a good 15 minutes now. He left her sitting there smiling as he stepped onto the train that had just stopped. He watched her body go limp as the train pulled away from the station.

Abby wanted to cry out, but her voice was nothing more than a whisper not able to be heard above the sounds of the train and the bustle of people hurrying by to get out of the wind. She knew that something was wrong and that she was bleeding but she couldn't move everything was going dark around her right now as she slowly began to fully fade from the world of the living.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

_A/N: Well since my computer decided it was randomly going to merge files I had to pull the other file down and put this one up, which is the one that is supposed to be there. Please keep reading and reviewing thanks!_

Carter bolted upright in bed. In his dream he had seen Sobriki behind Abby, what he had seen had shaken him to the core. Fear had over taken his body, sweat was pouring down his face, and his hands were cold and clammy. All he wanted to do right now was see her, to know with his own to eyes that she was alright. He looked at the clock on the wall it was a little after five now. She should be home, if she was off at four and managed to get out of there on time; she usually arrived home about 4:30.

He climbed out of bed and walked over out into the apartment. There was no sign of Abby. He checked the answering machine but there were no messages. He picked up the phone and called the hospital maybe she had just gotten off late and that's why she wasn't home yet.

"County ER." Jerry said as he picked up the phone.

"Hey Jerry its Carter, is Abby there." He asked. There was a sense of urgency in his voice, concern for his late girlfriend barely kept within himself.

"No she left at four Dr. Carter." He said. "We haven't been all that busy today she was able to slip out on time for once."

"She did." Carter said. He was more worried now that she had left the ER and not returned home. If she had got the EL like she always did she would have been home by now. It wasn't like her to go somewhere with out at least calling him and there was no messages on their machine.

"Yeah," Jerry told him, "I saw her punch out and leave myself."

Carter was silent for a minute. Fear was filling him and panic was starting to set in with every passing second. "Did she say she was going somewhere?"

"No," He said, "She said that she was off and was going home to see you and that she would see us all tomorrow."

"Jerry, listen to me," Carter said as panic filled his voice. "I want you to send someone over to the train platform. Abby isn't here yet."

"I'll send someone right away." Jerry said into the phone. He could feel the panic in Carter's voice. He could tell that Carter was definitely worried about Abby right now.

"Thanks," Carter said slipping his feet into his shoes. "I'll be in there in a few minutes." He was getting more concerned with every passing minute. If she was just running late, it would more than likely bump into each other.

"Okay." Jerry said as he hung up the phone.

"Who was that Jerry?" Kerry asked as she passed by the admit desk. She could see the look of concern on the desk clerk's face.

"It was Dr. Carter. He wants someone to check the EL platform to see if Abby is there, she didn't make it home." Jerry said worried about Abby now too.

"I'll go." Kerry said heading for the door. "Susan, come with me."

"Where Kerry?" Susan asked curious about where they were heading off to.

"Carter just called and is worried about Abby. I want you to come with me to the EL. Just in case." Kerry said heading for the door. She doubted that they would find Abby up there but she would go just to ease Carter's worried mind. Susan followed with out protest even though she knew if was freezing outside. She pulled her lab coat around her as the wind hit her.

"Does he think something happened?" Susan asked. She wasn't overly concerned, for it was possible that Abby might have just stopped to get something to eat and not told Carter.

"Jerry talked to him. But what ever Carter said to Jerry was enough to make Jerry tell him that we would send someone over to check." Kerry said to her. "And it's enough to make me worry."

"Okay Kerry." Susan said following her up the stairs to the EL.

What they both saw when they got to the top of the stairs shocked them for Abby was slumped over on the bench and she wasn't moving. Kerry and Susan ran over to her.

"Abby." Kerry called out to her.

Abby didn't say anything. Her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping. Kerry carefully moved her. When she pulled her hand away she was shocked to find it covered in blood.

"Abby honey you need to wake up." Kerry said worried about her now. She had to have been sitting up there bleeding for a good 45 minutes to an hour. She leaned Abby forward revealing the fact that she had been stabbed in the back. "Susan run and get a gurney. She's been stabbed." Kerry couldn't hide the fact that she was worried and scared right now.

It took a minute for everything to register with Susan that something bad had really happened to one of their own. How could someone be stabbed out in the open like this with out anyone else noticing? Susan took off running back to the ER.

She was almost in a state of shock that was her best friend up there bleeding to death and they needed to get her some help. She tried not to think that they were too late, that they hadn't gotten to her in time. She had left quite some time ago, and if she had been catching the train when it happened, Abby had been up there a long time bleeding. Susan had to push those thoughts from her head; they were going to be able to save her. They had too save her; they couldn't afford to have something else happen to one of their own. Abby wasn't just a nurse that worked at County she was a member of their family.

She reached the ER as fast as her legs would carry her and grabbed a gurney, "Chuny, Lydia I need you to come with me now. We've got a patient on the EL platform." She didn't say who not wanting to startle anyone in the hospital just yet.

She knew Kerry was going to need all the help they could get to get her back to the ER. However, the nurses were in just as much shock as Kerry and Susan were when they found her. It was hard to believe that this was happening. You wanted to shut your mind off and try to think that it was Abby that they were frantically trying to get back to the safety of the ER, to get her to the equipment that would be needed to save her precious and fragile life.

Kerry and Susan put Abby on the gurney. They both knew that she had been up on that platform a long time. She had to have lost a lot of blood. Her coat was soaked through with it. The blood, the bright red that was needed to carry oxygen to her organs had pooled behind her and as they lifted her up both of their hands were covered in it, neither of them wanted to think about that. There was a red stain marking the spot on the bench where they had found her.

"We have to go now." Susan said as they hurried down from the platform. Abby had a bluish tint to her. "Abby come on open your eyes for us, come on Abby." Susan was trying to talk to Abby to get her to give them some small response but she wasn't getting any.

"Abby," Kerry tried again, "Come on honey you have to hold on for us." They were rushing for the ER now, trying to get her back inside to a trauma room where they could work on her, where they would have a better shot of saving the young woman's life.

"She's not breathing." As they moved Susan worked to try to assess her. She jumped on the gurney cowboy style and started CPR; Abby's heart had stopped from the lack of blood in her body as well as from the lack of oxygen. Her body was beginning to shut down.

They got her into the trauma room. As Kerry and Susan rushed past the admit desk, Kerry paused just long enough to call out to Jerry to get Dr. Carter into the ER now. They had precious little time to lose right now; stabilizing Abby if possible was first and foremost on their minds. Both women were having a hard time keeping the contents of the stomachs in their stomachs. This wasn't something that was supposed to happen to Abby of all people. She didn't deserve to have this happen.

"CBC, Chem. 7, blood gas, cross and type," Kerry started to bark orders as they began to work on Abby.

The nurses cut Abby's clothes off and rolled her to the side so that Susan and Kerry could get a closer look at the stab wounds that were in her back. There were four of them. Two in her lower back and two near the midline. "Squeeze in two units." Kerry called out. We need to get a chest tube in; she got a collapsed lung on the right side."

Susan and Kerry worked frantically. Carter came charging in. "What happened to her?"

"We found her like this up by the EL Carter." Kerry said, "You shouldn't be in here." Carter didn't need to see them working frantically to save Abby. She knew it would be hard for him, but most importantly she didn't want him to get in the middle of things, he needed to stay on the sidelines and not try to help them.

"I need to be Kerry." Carter said looking at Abby lying on the table. He stood nailed to his spot just inside the trauma room doors. He wanted to try and help but he knew that he might be more of a hindrance than help.

My god, she was so pale. The color had completely drained from her face. Seeing her with all the tubes and machines was tearing his heart into two. He couldn't believe that she had been on the platform for an hour and not a single person had noticed what had gone on. How could no one notice that a woman was sitting up there on a bench bleeding to death?

"Page Corday." Kerry said, "We are going to need her down here now."

Chuny paged Corday and it wasn't more than a couple of minutes before the British Surgeon was in the ER taking a look at Abby. When Lizzie had gotten the call she had dropped everything that she was working on and hurried to get down to the ER.

"I need the sonosite and start and lavage. We need to rule out any internal bleeding now. Although I am sure that whoever did this to her hit something." Corday said as she took the sonosite from Kerry. "We've got blood in Morrison's pouch. And he's lacerated both the liver and spleen. It's a miracle that this poor girl hasn't bled out yet. Let's move people I need to get her upstairs. Call upstairs let them now that I am redlining her to the OR."

Elizabeth was worried about the condition of her patient. It didn't look good for the young women but she didn't want to say anything to those around knowing that they knew what she knew, that they could see just how precarious the situation for Abby really was.

They gathered all the tubes and wires up to send her upstairs. Carter watched as they wheeled her into the elevator to send her off to surgery. He couldn't believe that his Abby, the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, had her life hanging by a thread right now. And that it could go either way depending on what Elizabeth found when she got Abby up to the OR. Carter was terrified now of losing her. He couldn't believe that this part of the nightmare that had woken him just a few minutes ago was coming to be.

Everything seemed so surreal. People seemed to be moving in slow motion right now. He could hear the people around him, talking to him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. It was as if he had turned off, that he was there, but he really wasn't there. He didn't want to believe that this was happening, but it was. He was scared to death. God had to let her pull through. John could not lose Abby, and he could not lose her like this.

He couldn't help but wonder if somehow Sobriki was behind all of this, but Carter thought that he was still locked up for what he had done to him and Lucy. The only way that they would know for sure who had done this was for Abby to wake up and tell them. If she knew who had done this to her.

Carter needed her to be okay. He was able to admit to himself that he needed her. The thought of losing her broke his heart in two. She was his everything. He should have taken their relationship to the next step when he had the chance. 'No,' he thought to himself there is still going to be time to take it to the next level. He wasn't going to let her get away from him this time.

He was flooded with anger at the thought of a psychopath going after her. How could he have gotten out of the psychiatric hospital to attack her? Surely they had to have locked him away for everything that he had done. While Carter knew that Paul was sick, that dream, had sent chills up his spine and now here she was exactly as he had dreamed that it had happened. Carter was far from a violent person but just the thought of someone hurting his Abby in such a cold and callous manor was enough to get his blood to the boiling point.

Carter's feet were heavy as he headed to the elevator. He just wanted to be with Abby, be near her, they had taken her up, so up was where he was going to go to wait in the waiting room. Kerry stopped him before he was able to get on.

"John," She said looking at him, "are you going to be alright?" Her voice was filled with concern for him. She didn't even attempt to hide the worry. For she knew that right now things looked grim, very grim for Abby. The odds were not on the young woman's side right now, and she hoped for Carter's sake that they were granted a miracle. That Abby would somehow find the strength to survive her ordeal.

"Yeah," He said to her half lying half telling the truth, "she's going to be okay and I will be to." He had to think positive right now. He didn't believe in the odds, he had seen people beat them all the time.

Truth be told Carter didn't want to think that she didn't have the strength to get through this. He would remain by her side for as long as she needed him. He would give her everything that he had to help her through this. She was a fighter and he was determined to help her fight for her life.

"I have to ask," Kerry said looking at the young doctor, "how did you know she would be there?" Kerry didn't ask because of suspicion, she knew that it wasn't Carter that had hurt Abby, he would never hurt her. She just found the connection between Carter and Abby to be a very strong bond, one that time itself could not break.

"You won't believe me if I told you." He said looking back at her. He wasn't sure if he believed it himself. He wasn't sure if it was fate telling him that she was in trouble, or if it was Abby sending him some kind of message in his dream state that alerted him. Try as he may Carter just couldn't understand any of this. He didn't want to; right now he just wanted to focus on Abby. To spend what energy he had in helping her to get better. Carter wasn't open to any other alternative than Abby recovering from this.

"Try me John." Kerry said trying to get him to open up a little to her. She was interested in what the young doctor had to say. She was more curious than anything about the bond that was between the two of them. Kerry had never seen a love as strong as the love between John and Abby.

"I saw Paul Sobriki standing behind her in a dream. I was at home. I had gone home to get some sleep telling her that I would see her there and it was that nightmare woke me up. It was almost as if I was there, as if I could see what he was doing to her at the time that it was happening but I couldn't do anything to stop him from hurting her. I have never felt a fear like that. I should have stayed here, I should have waited for her or come to meet her. I should have never let her take the EL home alone." He said looking up at Kerry, "when I noticed that she wasn't home I was overtaken by fear and called here. Jerry said that she had left. I had this feeling in my gut that it wasn't just a dream."

"John," Kerry said softly, "Paul has been locked up in the mental hospital ever since the stabbing. There is no way that he could have done this. I know that he is sick, are you sure that's who you saw, there's no way really that he could be responsible for this. Abby was just a victim of some random act of violence."

"Don't be so sure Kerry. It's been three years now since this all happened. How can anyone be sure of where he is anymore?" Carter was very forceful in trying to convey to Kerry that he really believed it was Paul that he saw, that it was Paul who had stabbed Abby. "This wasn't just some random thing Kerry. She was stabbed in broad daylight on the EL platform and no one noticed anything out of the ordinary. Abby must not have even screamed. Nothing of hers was missing this wasn't just some random stabbing, some random robbery attempt. I know it was Paul, you just have to trust me on this one."

"You don't just walk out of institution like that John. Not after what he did. He might have been sick, but that was no excuse for him stabbing two of my doctors. Nearly killing you, and then killing Lucy. He would be lucky if he got out of there in 50 years." Kerry said. In all honesty she was thinking that Carter really had just had a random nightmare, that was something that had plagued him for a long time, and it was more coincidence that Abby had been stabbed and he called when he did. She couldn't and didn't want to believe that Paul was out lose on the streets, for he was a very sick man.

"I know that you are trying to reassure me Kerry. But it's not working. Abby is laying up there in an operating room now because someone saw fit to drive a knife into her back four times. Were there any signs that this was a random act, a robbery perchance? Can you tell me that everything points to some stranger doing this to her? I don't think so. My worst fear, my nightmare is out on the streets of Chicago and god only knows who is next!"

"Carter there wasn't. She still had her purse. She was sitting on a bench like she was waiting for a train." Kerry said. She still wasn't convinced that it might have been Paul that had done this, but Carter certainly seemed to be. She could tell that her doctor was getting very upset by the entire ordeal, and he had ever right to be. "I guess we all don't want to think that he could be out there."

"Then someone was trying to kill her." Carter said as his head hung lower, "My god Abby is upstairs fighting for a life that someone felt needed to be over. Abby has no enemies. She has never hurt a single person in her life. I don't know a more caring and compassionate person in this world that her. Abby is the most selfless person that I know and would drop anything and everything if one of us needed something."

"Carter I would love nothing more than to tell you it's going to be alright, but I can't do that." Kerry said, "Abby is one of the greatest nurses that we have had in a long time. I don't want to lose her for any reason. I'm sure that whoever did this they will catch them."

"Thanks Kerry, but I know that. I know that there is no certainty in if she will recover." Saying that hit him like a ton of bricks. He just wanted the man responsible for this to be taken out back and shot in the head. He couldn't stand the thought that she wasn't going to make it. "I need to get upstairs."

"I know you know Carter." Kerry said looking at him, "I'm sure that she will want to see you when she gets out of surgery."

Carter nodded and got onto the elevator. He wanted to get up there as soon as he could. He wondered if he should call Maggie. Carter wasn't family but he was close enough. He checked to see if she was out of the OR. Dr. Corday was still in surgery with her. The nurse at the desk said that it would probably be another couple of hours. He wandered into the surgeons lounge. This was a place that he hadn't been in a long time. He wasn't comfortable being there. There was something about being on the other side that just made him absolutely sick to his stomach.

He sat down and put his head between his knees and let the tears start to fall. For the first time since he had gotten here, he let them fall freely. Carter sat there crying for the better part of 20 minutes. Before he composed himself enough to try and call Maggie. After all she was Abby's mother and had the right to know that her daughter was in an OR fighting for her life.

He dialed the number that was programmed into the phone and waiting for Maggie to pick up. She had been on her med's now for a long time and seemed to be doing much better. The only thing was that Abby was upset with her for the way that she had handled Eric.

"Hello," A voice said answering the phone.

"Maggie?" Carter said unsure if it was Maggie who had answered the phone.

"John, what is it." Maggie recognized his voice almost instantly.

"It's Abby." He simply said, "Is there anyway that you can get to Chicago?"

"John what's wrong with Abby?" Maggie started to get worried. She knew that if John was calling it had to be something serious. He wouldn't just call out of the blue and ask her to come to Chicago for Abby.

"She's in County Maggie; someone stabbed her on the platform while she was waiting to catch the train home." He said recanting what he knew of the story to her.

"Oh god John is she okay." Maggie asked as she fought to keep her own tears at bay now. She was worried about her daughter.

"She's in surgery right now, no Maggie she isn't okay and I don't know if she will be." He said letting the tears fall again. "I can't promise you that she will be okay."

"I'll get there as soon as I can." Maggie replied back to him. "Abby's a fighter, she's strong, if anyone can make it through this she can." Maggie wasn't sure if she was saying that to reassure John, or to keep calm. She hung up the phone and started to get ready to leave as soon as she possibly could.

John heard Maggie hang up the phone. He said there glancing up at the clock on occasion. There had to be some word about Abby here soon. He laid his head down on the table and cried himself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4:  
**_

Maggie got to Chicago as fast as humanly possible. Her little girl needed her now. The train ride was long. If she hadn't been terrified of flying she would have taken a plane, but that wasn't an option.

"Jerry," She said as she walked into the ER, "where's Abby?"

"She is up in the SICU." Jerry said looking at Maggie, "Carter is up there with her, he hasn't left her side since it happened."

"Thanks." Maggie said looking at Jerry, before she headed over to the elevators and up to the SICU. She wasn't sure where to go from there, but she had to find her daughter.

Maggie walked up to the SICU nurse's station. "Can you tell me where I can find Abby Lockhart?"

"She's right over there." There nurse said pointing to the room that was just right across the hall.

"Thank you," Maggie said as she headed toward the room.

The nurse stopped her before she could walk inside. She wasn't trying to be cold towards the woman, but there were rules in the SICU for a reason and it was her job to enforce them. That and Dr. Carter told her that no one should bother them unless it was an emergency. Abby needed the quiet to rest so that she could recover. "Only family members are allowed to visit in the SICU."

"I am." Maggie said looking at the nurse, "I'm her mother."

The nurse stepped back. She had never met Abby's mother and really didn't know Abby all that well herself. "Go ahead then."

Maggie walked into the room. John was sitting there next to Abby with his head resting against the bed. He hadn't left her side in two days. He didn't want Abby to be alone. He couldn't leave her side, not while she was like this. It had been so touch and go with her the last couple of days. He wasn't sure if she would ever be the Abby he remembered.

He lifted up his head when he thought that he had heard someone enter the room. "Maggie you made it."

"I came as fast as I could John. How is she doing?" Maggie asked as she stood next to her daughter.

"As well as can be expected." Carter said looking up at her, he ran his hand through his hair, "she's been touch and go ever since the surgery Maggie. Abby lost a lot of blood while she was sitting up there. Her heart stopped and we don't know how long she was down. There's no telling when she might wake up and that's if she might wake up."

"Will she be okay?" Maggie asked.

"They don't know Maggie. I don't know" Carter said to her. He looked down at Abby. The color had started to return to her cheeks but she was still pale. Abby was still was still on the vent which in itself wasn't a good sign. "She hasn't come off the vent yet which isn't a good sign." He had been trying to prepare himself mentally incase it swung either way. They had, had a few close calls with her, part of the reason that he hadn't left for more than a few minutes at a time.

"Oh god." Maggie said as she started to cry.

"We have to have faith that she will pull through." Carter said to her. He wasn't sure now if he was trying to reassure Maggie or just to keep her from falling apart not knowing if he could keep it together himself.

"I know John." She replied trying to get the tears under control.

"Maggie, I love your daughter, we will get through this." Carter said, "It's just going to take some time." He reached down and gently pushed her hair away from her face. There would have been silence in the room except for the machines that reminded them both that Abby was not all the way there with them. That her life could go either way. She would either pull through this or heaven help them all she could die.

Carter looked down at Abby lying there. She was as beautiful as they day he had kissed her during the small pox scare. He couldn't imagine his life with out her now. She had to pull through. Carter's hand drifted away from her head now as he took her hand into his and squeezed her hand. He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. "I love you Abby." He whispered in her ear.

He at that moment just happened to glance at a monitor. There was an extra blip on the breathing strip. He watched it for a minute. There was another one, followed by another, she was breathing over the vent. He glanced at Maggie, "she's starting to breathe on her own Maggie, and she's coming back to us." Carter let the tears start to flow from him eyes. She was coming back to them, after all she had been through Abby was coming back to them; it looked like she was fighting her way back.

Carter still hadn't left her side, as the days passed and she slowly started to come back to the world of the living. Abby was a fighter. Carter was there when they pulled the vent and she breathed her first breath of air with out any more help from the machines. It had been almost a week now since she had been stabbed and left for dead on the platform where she was supposed to take the EL to their home. They had weaned her completely off of the oxygen. He just needed her to wake up now. She still hadn't regained consciousness, but she was getting there. Every day there was more small improvement.

Carter was sitting there with her; Maggie had gone to get them some coffee. He was starting to look pretty ragged and had a shadow from not shaving. He held her hand sitting there in the silence.

Abby's eyes fluttered slightly a sign that she was still in there and wanted to wake up. Carter about jumped out of the chair when he saw that small sign of life, that minor improvement over how she had been doing.

He moved closer to her, now sitting on the edge of the bed, "baby." He said to her, "come on open your eyes, I know you want to."

Abby's eyelids fluttered again. She wanted to wake up. She could hear his voice. She could hear John calling to her. Her eyes were so heavy and she was having a hard time getting them to listen to her.

"I'm here," He said, "I here waiting for you Abby, come back to me please, come back to me baby."

Abby wanted to come back, she did, but right now she was just to tired there was no way that her eyes were going to open. Her head was in this fog and she felt funny. There was pain in her back but not enough to jar her from her sleeping state.

Carter knew that it was going to take some time, but the movement of her eyelids gave him a new hope. A hope that he hadn't had in days now. Worried that she wasn't going to wake up. That fear had been lifted from his shoulders now and he would continue his vigil by her bedside until she was fully back with them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five:**

The following day Abby's eyes slowly opened. The light in there was bright and she had to shut them. Carter reached over and turned the light off. When the brightness was gone she attempted to open them up again, this time they stayed open. She wasn't sure what had happened, she looked around the room; the surroundings weren't familiar at all. She had no idea where she was. She tried to sit up, but felt John's hands pushing her back down onto the bed.

"Don't try to sit up baby." He said.

"Where, where am I?" Abby asked him in a soft weak voice. Nothing was familiar; she didn't recognize the man sitting there next to her.

"You're at County honey." He said to her.

"What happened?" She asked. As hard as she tried Abby had no idea why she was there. She had no recollection of the events that had led up to her being in the hospital, or why her back hurt the way that it did, "my back hurts."

She had a blank look on her face, she didn't know why he was calling her honey, and she didn't know why she was there. Abby was scared and confused right now. She was in a strange place with a stranger being overly friendly with her.

"Someone stabbed you while you were waiting for the train after work about two weeks ago." Carter said to her.

Abby closed her eyes. She couldn't remember going up to the train. Then she felt the pain in her back. The sharp stabbing pains flooded her mind once again. A voice filled her head. The voice belonged to someone who she recognized but couldn't put a name to.

"I don't remember that." She said. "Where do I live, where do I work?" Abby still had that blank look on her face when she looked at him, "and who… who are you?"

"We were worried about you." He said kissing her forehead again, "Maggie will be back, I'm sure that she will be happy to see you're awake." It took a minute for that last part to sink in, what she had said. He was shocked that she didn't remember who he was, "John," He said with a soft voice, "we live together and you work here at County, you're a nurse."

"You called Maggie." She said, "Why did you do that?" Abby knew that Maggie was her mother; she couldn't have forgotten that if she had tried, "I don't want my crazy mother here! I don't want to see her."

"Because, we thought, we thought that we were going to lose you Abby." Carter said looking down at her. She looked tired and worn out. But her open eyes were a sight for his sore eyes, and hearing her voice brought that missing joy back to his heart. He wasn't going to lose her. She just had no idea who he was, she didn't remember him and in a way that hurt more than he thought he would. But if this was the alternative to not having her beautiful face around, he could adjust to it, after all maybe it was just temporary.

Abby's head hurt something horrible right now as well as her back. She didn't know what to think, why he would be worried about her. "Why? Why were you worried about me?"

Carter looked at her with wide eyes, "because I love you." That was the only answer that he could come up with, "because you are my life and I thought that I was going to lose you."

His face didn't register with her, what he was saying she could tell that he meant, but she didn't know who he was. She didn't remember having him in her life, hell Abby couldn't remember her life up until… she had no idea. She could remember divorcing Richard and working as a nurse at County when she was kicked out of medical school for not being able to pay tuition. But that was it. Nothing after that.

"It will be okay." Carter found himself saying, he didn't know what else to tell her. He didn't know how to help her remember what she was missing. "You are going to get better that's all that matters Abby."

"Why am I here?" She asked again.

"You were stabbed," Carter told her again, "you were on the EL platform and someone stabbed you. You don't remember being stabbed?"

"When was I stabbed?" She asked looking at him as if she was searching for answers that seemed to be just outside her grasp.

"It was two weeks ago." Carter said to her keeping his voice soft with her. This was going to take all the patients that he had. "I left work when you came on and you said that you would be home after work, when you didn't come home, I called work and the found you up on the platform sitting on a bench."

"Two weeks." She said, she felt like she didn't remember a lot more than two weeks, there had to be something that she was missing, "how long have we been dating?"

Carter got his hopes up when she asked that, "we've been dating for a few months now Abby." He said reaching for her hand but when he looked in her eyes he didn't see the same love that had been there before all of this had happened looking back at him. Her eyes held nothing, he couldn't see it now.

Abby had to look away from him, she could see something that looked like hurt in his eyes and she didn't like it. That made her more than uncomfortable. She felt so out of place right now as if she didn't belong. She felt like she had lost something that she wasn't going to be able o get it back.

"It will be okay." He said again, knowing that he was repeating himself. Carter really wanted her to know that it was going to be okay. They could find a way to work through this.

Abby started to cry now. She was overwhelmed and just couldn't handle all of this right now. When Maggie came back in the room she about lost it. "Go, go away. I don't want you here, you shouldn't be here, just go away." She was getting even more upset.

Maggie stood there frozen in her tracks. She wasn't sure why Abby was so upset with her, why she was screaming at her to leave. She looked at John and then back at Abby.

"You heard me get out!" Abby screamed again. She didn't want Maggie there. "Get out, get out."

John took Maggie by the arm, "she's going Abby. I promise." He led Maggie just outside the hospital room where he could try and explain things to her. Maggie was now in tears and John knew that this was just as hard on mother as it was on daughter. She had no idea what was going on with Abby. "Maggie, Abby," He started to stop.

"Abby hates me." Maggie was trying not to cry now but that had hurt.

"When Abby woke up." Carter tried again to explain things, hoping this time that she let him get somewhere, "when Abby woke up she didn't even know who I was. She doesn't know what happened to her; she can't remember that we dated where she lived or even where she worked." Carter took a deep breath, "don't take it personally Maggie, she just can't remember anything right now."

"How else am I supposed to take my daughter hating me, her not remember the man who loves her." Maggie was getting even more upset and time passed. She wasn't taking this very well and while she might have felt bad that Abby was going though all of this not being able to be there with Abby was tearing her in two. Her own child didn't want her there.

"We are going to have to be patient with her and not take it that way Maggie, Abby has been through a lot and we should be thankful that she is in there and awake. Granted it hurts that she doesn't remember us but she is still with us and that is the most important part." Carter said trying his best to calm the woman down.

Maggie started to pace nervously and that in itself was enough to make Carter nervous. Oh god, please don't have Maggie take a bi-polar swing. He couldn't deal with that right now on top of everything else. He hoped that she was still on her meds that she had brought her meds with her. This wasn't looking good and he wasn't sure what to do now.

"I am trying to remain calm about this John, really I am but I don't know what to do. There's not much that I can do to help Abby if she doesn't want me in there." She continued to pace, "really tell me what am I supposed to do, get back on a bus and say fine deal with this yourself since you don't need me anymore?"

"Just give her some time Maggie, her memories might start to come back but it's going to take some time. All I am asking for from you is a little bit of patients." Carter said back to her watching her pace.

"Yeah that's easy for you to say." Maggie said. "She's not your child who has suddenly decided that she hates you. She just doesn't remember you, she didn't tell you to go away."

Carter was probably going to get his head taken off for this one, but he didn't want a scene in the hospital right now, "maybe you should go back to Minnesota for a few days, give her a chance to recover a little more. I can call you and keep you updated and when she's gotten better call you and you can come back."

That didn't sit well with Maggie at all. He was telling her to just walk away from her baby girl. "I don't think I can do that John." She said defiantly. "I can't just up and walk away from her."

"Maggie," Carter said his patients growing thin, "I am not asking you to abandon her, just give her some space, the space that she needs to start remembering things. You aren't doing her any good upsetting her like we have been. Even I need to back off and stop pushing her. She will remember things when she is able to and until then you and I have to just deal with it."

"No," She said pulling away from him as she took a couple of steps back towards Abby's room, "that I can't do."

"Maggie!" Carter practically yelled at her now, "think about Abby for once and just do as she asks for right now. You are not making this any easier for her, for you or even for me."

Maggie stopped in her tracks for a minute, "don't you dare tell me to stay away from my daughter."

"I didn't tell you too, she did. Abby doesn't want you in there and right now you have to respect her wishes." Carter said his hand now on her arm in an attempt to pull her back away from where she was headed. This was not going to end well. "Just go back home for right now."

"You don't tell me what to do," Maggie said pulling her arm away from him, "I am going back in there and you can't stop me."

"That's not what she wants Maggie, god damn it just stop and think about what you are doing." He said pulling on her harder now. "Do you want to make things worse, is that what you are trying to do because that is what is going to happen if you go back into that room when she has clearly expressed that she doesn't want you there."

Maggie just looked at him with a glare to her glance. "Fine you know what, if she doesn't want me here that's fine you tell her that I don't want to be here anymore. I'm not going to just throw everything aside when she decides that she wants me to come back either."

Carter let go of her, he wasn't going to have this battle with her right now. This isn't what anyone needed right now. He didn't need it, Abby didn't need it and there was no way that he was going to win a battle with Maggie. That just wasn't going to happen, he just hoped that maybe if she got back home and had a couple of days to adjust to everything that she would calm down and see things differently.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Carter watched Maggie walk away to leave and he turned to go back to Abby. He stood outside her room door just looking at her. She was curled up in a small ball on the bed. She looked so upset and hurt. He knew that she had to be confused and hurting.

"I heard she woke up."

A voice pulled Carter from his thoughts and he turned to see Susan standing there. "Yeah she's awake." His voice was soft.

"You don't sound too thrilled there Carter." Susan said giving him an odd look.

"No I am thrilled; it's just not quite what I expected." He said. Carter's eyes were still on her watching her laying there. "She doesn't remember much."

"About the stabbing?" Susan asked him.

"The stabbing, she threw out Maggie, and she doesn't remember that we were even dating. She even asked who I was." Carter told Susan.

Susan was silent as she thought about what he was saying. They were lucky that she was alive and none of them should have expected Abby to be the Abby that she was before all of this.

They both stood there now looking at her. That was there friend laying there and they both knew that she was going to need more support and all the friends that she could have around her right now.

"What do you think Carter?" Susan said, "Do you think she would remember me?"

Carter shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know if Abby would remember Susan. He wasn't sure where her memories stopped. "I'm not sure what all she remembers. I think she has some memories of working here. She seemed not to upset when I told her that." Carter kept going, "but she doesn't remember being stabbed, which means that we're no closer now that she's awake to knowing who stabbed her than we were when she was out. I think I know who it was but I just have a suspicion nothing solid."

"What do you mean Carter?" Susan asked as she pulled him away a little more from Abby's room so that they could sit and talk some. He seemed to be holding it together by a thin thread right now. She didn't want him to snap from all of this.

"I had this nightmare." Carter said looking over at Susan; she was one of his best friends. "And in my nightmare I saw almost exactly what had happened to her."

"Oh man Carter," Susan said, "I didn't know. Who do you think it might have been?" She was taking what he said seriously.

"I think it was Paul Sobriki." Carter said his voice conveying just how serious about this he was.

Susan put her hand on his leg giving it a gentle pat, "whose that John?" It was very seldom that Susan ever used his first name but right now with the way that they were talking it seemed most appropriate.

"Do you remember when I was telling you about the stabbing and the drug addiction?" He asked her.

Susan nodded her response, "yeah I remember you telling me about that."

"That was the man who stabbed Lucy and I and I think he's the one that stabbed Abby as well." Carter said.

"But I thought that you also said that they locked him up in a mental hospital after he did that. And he thought that you were trying to steal his organs, why would he go after Abby." She replied back to him.

"I don't know Susan." Carter said looking down and then towards Abby's room. "I don't know why he would go after Abby, but I'm telling you that's the man that I saw standing behind her on the platform and it was shortly after that you and Kerry found her dying."

"I don't know what to say Carter." Susan said shocked about how much he actually knew about Abby being stabbed. For a dream that he had it seemed to be founded in reality.

"All I can tell you is what I saw in the dream Susan." Carter said letting out a soft sigh. "I can't explain any of this. I couldn't begin to explain it if I wanted to."

"No I bet you couldn't." She said giving him an off the wall look. "It's amazing how much you know from the dream it seems so real."

"Tell me about it Susan. I was helpless and couldn't do anything in my dream to help her and right now there isn't anything I can do for it. I watched Sobriki drive that knife into her back four times and leave her on the bench like that bleeding while he sat with her and people passed by as if they were this happy couple. He was there while she was dying and I couldn't help her then."

Susan tried not to gasp now. How could he know where they had found her, so many details like he knew, it just seemed surreal to her that a dream would tell him so much.

Carter was on the verge of crying once more again. It didn't seem real that this was happening to them. This was one of the hardest things that he had, had to deal with in his entire life. They were so close to being happy and now this.

"Carter, I'm sorry." She had her doubts now, "you were at home right?" She couldn't help but ask. "I mean you weren't anywhere near here when this happened right?"

"Yes," Carter said defending what he had said, "you aren't implying what I think you are Susan."

"You just know so much about something that you say you couldn't control and for a dream it just seems almost too real." Susan was worried now was she sitting next to someone who could be cold enough to try and kill another person. Surely he wouldn't have had to have resorted to those methods.

"Susan I did not hurt Abby, I could never hurt Abby." He said standing up and walking a few steps away from her, "I can't believe that you would think that I would do something like that."

"I don't know anymore Carter." Susan said, "I'm sorry if I've upset you, but you are blaming this on a man who is locked up in a mental hospital you just don't stroll away from those for a few hours so that you can stab someone that you don't know."

"I can't explain it Susan, really I can't but I did not hurt Abby!" He tried not to yell at her but he couldn't believe that she was even suggesting such a thing. "I would never hurt her, I love her."

"I know Carter." Susan said softly but she still had her doubts. Doubts that she couldn't shake. Granted the Carter that she knew wasn't a violent person, but he had really been through a lot in the past few years and sometimes people changed right under your eyes and you never saw it until it was too late.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Carter had gone back to sitting with Abby watching her breathing and sleeping there in the bed so peaceful. He thought about everything that Susan had said. He couldn't believe that she thought that he was capable of doing something like that.

He had to admit that there was a certain amount of disbelief to his story but he had been at home. Problem was that if anyone was to do any asking about it, he really had no alibi. No one had seen him leave the hospital and even if they did it had been hours before Abby had been attacked.

"Dr. Carter," A voice said to him pulling him from him thoughts that flooded his mind during his vigil with Abby.

He looked up to see a man standing there looking at him. "Yes."

"Could you come with me for a few minutes please?"

Carter stood up from sitting beside Abby's bed and headed out into the hallway with the man whom he didn't recognize he had no idea who this man was, "can I help you?"

"We'd like to ask you a few questions about Miss Lockhart's stabbing." The man said to him, "I'm Detective Donaldson and this is my partner Detective Richards." He pointed to the man who was standing there next to him.

Carter nodded to the men, "I'll answer what I can, but I'm afraid that I don't have much information." Carter remained calm and cool as he talked to them.

"We talked to the Attending Physician who examined Miss Lockhart when she arrived to the ER." He said looking at him intently. "Do you know of any enemies that Miss Lockhart might have had?"

"No, Abby didn't have any enemies that I know of." He answered the question that was asked of him.

"Do you have any idea of who might have wanted to hurt her?" He asked him.

"I'm not certain but I think it might have been a man by the name of Paul Sobriki." Carter said calmly.

"And you have reason to believe that he might have hurt her because?"

Okay now Carter felt awkward about telling a police officer about the dream that he had but it was worth a shot, it was the only thing that he had been going off. "I dreamt it." He knew that sounded very weird and all but he was compelled to tell the truth.

"Where were you at the time of Miss Lockhart's stabbing Dr. Carter?" The detective asked him.

"I was at home. I had worked 36 hours that day and I caught the train home after I got off. Abby was supposed to meet me and when I woke up at around five o'clock and she wasn't home I became worried about her." Carter told them.

"Is there anyone that can place you at the apartment that you shared with Miss Lockhart?" The detective asked.

"No I called the hospital from the house, but like I said that was around five o'clock when I woke up. I had been tired from the long shift and I went straight home." Carter said again.

"So then there is no one who can account for where you were at approximate 4 o'clock?"

"No sir, there isn't," Carter said realizing where this was going. They suspected him of hurting Abby. The only person who knew who stabbed Abby was Abby and she had no memory of the event.

"Dr. Carter," The detective said, "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney if you can not afford one, one will be provided to you. Do you understand your rights?"

Carter couldn't believe that this was happening. "Yes I do." As he said that the police detective place the handcuffs around Carter's wrists, he was being arrested for stabbing his girlfriend, the last person on the face of the planet that he would ever hurt.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Two days had passed and the ER was a buzz with the news that the police had arrested Carter on suspicion of attempted murder. They had firm belief that he was the one that had stabbed Abby and no one in the ER wanted to think that he was the one that had done it, but the evidence against Carter was stacking up left and right.

Upon searching the apartment the police had found the bloody knife that they believed was the murder weapon and Carter's prints were on that knife. Carter hadn't talked to anyone from County and wasn't even allowed to know how Abby was doing. He was in shock about all of this and he could tell that even his attorney that Carter was paying to defend him was having some serious doubts about his client's innocence.

"John," Devlin Marcus said looking at him, "things are looking good right now the prosecutors evidence is mounting and I won't lie to you chances are if this goes to court the odds of getting you off are getting slimmer by the minute. Isn't there anyone who knew you were home at the time?"

"I did not stab my girlfriend!" Carter said. This man was unbelievable. Carter was paying him to defend him and he was telling him that it wasn't looking good, "how many people do you tell when you go home from work that you are going to bed?"

"John I don't know what to tell you, you know what I know." Devlin said to him, "they found the knife that they believe was the weapon in your apartment with your finger prints over it, how do you explain that?"

Carter just looked at him, he had no idea how to explain it and well prison right now was not doing much for him. He spent most of his time in fear of something horrible happening to him. He had hoped that his attorney would have been able to get him bail but they judge because of his status in the community considered him a flight risk.

"All I can say is that you need to come up with someone, anyone who can vouch for where you were at that time or you are in some serious trouble." His lawyer said to him.

Carter didn't know what to think now; he was going to be sentenced for something that he didn't do. "Haven't they talked to Abby?"

"She has no recollection of the stabbing." He said, "she knows she was stabbed but she can't say who did or didn't do it."

"I am telling you I didn't do it." He said still defending that he hadn't done it, he really didn't do it.

"We are going to need more than your word as a defense. I believe that you believe you didn't do it, but it is your word against an ever piling mountain of evidence." He looked down, "you might want to consider a plea bargain."

"What?" Carter said looking at him, "a plea bargain, but I'm innocent."

"It's not going to look that way to a judge or a jury and I am sure that we can come to a lesser sentence with the prosecutor if you plea." His attorney was being straight forward with him right now.

"Is there nothing else that we can do?" Carter hated the thought of being sentenced for Abby's attack, he hadn't done it, but they were running out of options to put forward in his defense and Carter knew it. Abby would never want to see him again after this, and he couldn't blame her, he didn't want to be him right now.

"I'll talk to the prosecutor and see what she is willing to put onto the table as an offer and get back to you as soon as I have it." Devlin said to him, "unless you come up with something in the next 24 hours I am afraid it might be our only option unless you want to take your chances in front of a jury?"

Carter hung his head down now knowing that this was the way that it was going to go. With the evidence that they had, his options were limited and it frustrated him that the person who had done this was going to go free and not pay for his crime, that Carter would be paying for it and he would lose everything that he had ever worked for.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Abby was still in the hospital she was scheduled to be released tomorrow if she continued to improve the way that she was. She still hadn't regained any of her memory and they didn't know if she would or not. She had tried not to think about it knowing that right now it was out of her control. She might get some of it back when she was able to go to her apartment and be around her things.

Night started to fall over the city of Chicago and Abby could see the lights starting to twinkle outside her hospital room window. She moved from the chair that she had been sitting in back to the bed. She was tired and she thought that she might as well try and get some sleep. She was excited about getting out of there, no one liked being in the hospital and she was no exception to that.

She settled into the bed and was surprised to see Susan standing in her door way, "hey can I come in?"

"Yeah sure." Abby said waving her in. She pulled herself up a little more in the bed.

"I was off and I thought that I would see how you were doing before I headed home." Susan said as she crossed over to where Abby was.

"I'm doing okay." Abby replied, "ready to go home though."

"Yeah I'm sure that you are; you've been here awhile now." Susan looked at her, "you feeling better then?"

"Yeah I am feeling better." Abby said giving her a soft smile.

"That's always good to hear. You are looking a lot better than the last time that I saw you." Susan said.

"Yeah I might be looking better and feeling better than I was. As hard as I try not to think about it, I just wish that I could get my memory back." Abby said looking down.

"You still don't remember anything?" Susan asked her. "That has to be frustrating for you."

"Yeah you could say that it is." Abby said looking at her. "I remember some things and most of my life up until we were locked down in the ER. I remember the kids coming in and being so sick and how scared we where but that is where my memories end. I don't know, I know that we had to have gotten through it okay cause I am sitting her talking to you but anything else don't ask me about cause I won't have an answer for you."

"So you don't remember that you and Carter started dating after that or what happened up on the platform that afternoon?"

"No Susan you are the fifteenth person who has asked me that and I have no idea what happened up on that platform. I wish I did, I wish I could tell you who did this to me but I can't." Abby said, "They think that I might be blocking it out from the trauma, but I just don't know. I can't force the memories to come back."

"No you can't force them to come back; if they are going to come back they will come back on their own. As hard as it is, you just have to be patient with them." Susan told her knowing that she had probably been told that too.

"I know." Abby said letting out a sigh. She looked at Susan now, "the police officers told me that they arrested someone in the case." She was almost heart broken in a way over this, and if she could have remembered their relationship she might have been even more heartbroken.

"How do you feel about that Abby?" Susan asked.

"I don't know, honestly, I feel like I should be upset about it. I can't say yes he did it or no he didn't do it." Abby said playing with the blanket that covered her now. "It is an eerie feeling that I was dating someone who could have done something like that. Do you think he really did it?"

"I don't know Abby." Susan said answering her honestly. "I have always thought that Carter could never hurt anyone but lately I don't know and with everything that they have against him, it's looking more and more like he did do it."

"I wish that I could have been more help to the policeman but I told him that I didn't remember my attack." She said looking down still, "I just don't know if I want to remember it."

"Who knows Abby?" Susan said. "I wish that I had answers for you but I don't. I'm just want you to know that I am here for you if there is anything that you need okay?"

"I know." Abby still couldn't look up at her, "I'm just tired right now."

"I'll let you get some sleep and maybe I might see you before they let you out in the morning." Susan said as she stood up to leave the room, "goodnight Abby."

"Good night Susan." Abby sunk down more into the bed now.

Susan turned the lights off in the room for Abby as she left watching her friend sink more into the bed that would be hers for one more night. She was worried about Abby with everything that had happened. There was still that doubt that Carter might have done it or he might not have. She didn't know if the police had checked to see where Paul had been during all of this or not, but if they thought that he might have had something to do with it then surely they had.

Abby felt safe in the hospital as she drifted off that night. She knew that if Carter did it he was indeed in the County Jail right now for it, and if not then whoever it was wouldn't come after her with other people around. Although that hadn't stopped him from attacking her in broad daylight… wait she was remembering something… that the attack happened in broad daylight while she was waiting for the train.

She remembered walking up the steps of the EL and how cold it was. That the wind was blowing and the rain that it was coming through her coat that she was cold while she waited for the train. Abby chewed on her lip as the small pieces of that day started to slowly come back to her. She was on her way home; she had gotten off on time and was looking forward to getting home. She tried not to focus on remembering but to let it come back on her own.

The hairs on her arms stood up as she heard the voice again. That cold voice the one that had been whispered in her ear while she stood there right before the pain, the horrible pain. "Abby guess I didn't finish this the first time and I have to do it again."

Her eyes darted around the room, "what… what do you want." She said as she searched to figure out where that voice was coming from in the darkness of the room.

"To make him suffer, he's in jail which is a start but it's still not enough." The voice said to her again, "and you dying will seal his fate. It will look like it happened from the stabbing on the platform."

Abby had the chills, her entire body was shaking as her hands searched for the call button, she needed to get someone in here and she needed them in there now. "No stop please." She tried to put some power behind her voice make it carry down the hallway some. She could scream that might bring someone down there.

"No, you see Abby darling I can't stop. It wouldn't be right to stop." The voice said to her again.

Abby got the feeling that the voice was getting closer to her that it was somewhere in that room with her and panic filled every ounce of her body. She went to scream but nothing came out. Her hands were frantically searching in the sheets for the call button but it was no where to be found. "Please, don't, just go." Her voice was barely there, she would have run but she didn't know where he was. She was near crying now from being so terrified.

"I promise that it will be faster this time, you won't hurt, you won't suffer, and I can get it right."

Her hands kept searching, finally coming into contact with what she had been looking for she hit the call button once, twice, three times; she just wanted someone to come there. She was crying now tears were flowing freely down her face.

Then there was the glint of steel the light just happened to catch his weapon and she knew where her attack was in the room. She was hurting still from the stab wounds in her back but she was still small and quick. She jumped off the bed and ran for the door. She just hoped that her legs could carry her since she was so scared. Bolting for the door was her only option since no one seemed to want to answer her call light.

She reached the door and made it into the safety of the hall. She knew he was there somewhere behind her but Abby didn't stop until she reached the nurses station out of breathe but still alive. "Help please help there's a man in my room trying to kill me. Call security now please."

"Abby, honey, come back here you should be in bed." Paul said as he approached the two women. "Please excuse my sister, she panicked from not recognizing me, you know her memory problems, I didn't mean to scare her."

Abby tried and back even further away from him, "he's not my brother." She said looking at the nurse her eyes begging for help. "My brother is in Minnesota."

Paul had to think fast on his feet. "Abby I came to see you. I got here as soon as I could when I heard you were hurt." He was good at lying. "Please come on let's get you back to bed."

Abby was getting frantic surely the nurse couldn't believe him over her. "Really he's not my brother. Don't let him near me. He's trying to kill me. He's the man that stabbed me on the platform when I was waiting for the train." She was panicking. "Please call security don't let him near me."

The nurse went to pick up the phone to call for security just as Paul lunged at Abby missing her by a fraction of an inch. Abby ran again as fast as she could she didn't know where she was going she just knew she had to run. She found herself in the stairwell as she started to fly down the stairs. She was running for her life.

"Get back here you bitch!" Paul yelled as he took off after her now that he had recovered giving Abby a small yet decent head start.

She could hear him now coming after her she leaned over the railing and slid painfully down to the next landing. She just prayed that she didn't fall over and end up killing herself. She was on the 6th floor and had gone down two floors. Four more if she could stay ahead of him for four more flights she could get to the ER where there would be more people and rent-a-cops there.

Three more flights, two more flights, closer and closer Paul got to her Abby just kept going though she had to get away from him no matter how much it hurt. One more flight, her hand was on the ER door now as she flung it open running into the ER. There were people all over the place but she didn't recognize anyone just yet. There was a familiar sight, a face she knew.

"Pratt!" Abby yelled as loudly as she could trying to get his attention she darted towards him just as Paul reached the ER landing. "Help my god someone help me."

Pratt heard her calling to him as he turned around and Abby practically leaped into his arms, "that's the man, that's the man that stabbed me and he's trying to kill me."

The security guards heard the woman screaming and the came over just as Paul stepped from the landing into the ER. Abby was frantic she wanted this to end and she didn't want to die to end it. "That's the man who stabbed me." She kept repeating until the security guards managed to apprehend him.

Pratt looked at her and instinctively started to look her over, "oh god are you okay, did he hurt you anymore?"

Abby started to sob uncontrollably now, "no, no he didn't." She just couldn't stop crying.

"You're okay Abby, you are okay." Pratt said picking her up and heading for an empty exam room taking her away from where they were holding Paul down on the floor. "We'll get you taken care of sweetie."

They moved into a room and Pratt got her into a bed. He knew that the cops would want to talk to her after what she was screaming in the ER. But for now she could rest here. He made sure that she was tucked into the bed, "you'll be okay." He said, "I won't leave you right now."

Abby just didn't feel safe right now; she didn't think that she would feel safe anywhere in there again. How could he have gotten inside the hospital but the greater question weighing on her mind was how the psychopath was able to get out of the mental institution. Surely he couldn't have just walked out of there of his own free will; he had only been in there three years.

Pratt was however good to his word as he sat down in a chair near the gurney that he had laid her on. He knew that she was frightened and he didn't blame her one little bit, he was sure that if a psycho was trying to kill him, he would be a little on edge too. She had been through a lot the last couple of days and while the ER was busy, Pratt wasn't about to leave her alone in there. The last thing that any of them needed was for Abby to have a nervous breakdown.

Abby spent the night curled up on the gurney in the ER. She was not able to sleep and it wasn't until after she had spoken with the police officers and told them what she remembered that she even felt any kind of relief that this might be anywhere near over.

They explained that somehow there had been a mix up at the mental institution and that they had released the wrong patient and it wasn't until a few days ago that the error had even been realized. That didn't make Abby any more comfortable, it fact it just added to her uneasiness that it could happen again. The only difference was, this time Paul would be going to a more secure facility, where he would more than likely spend the rest of his life behind locked doors.


	10. Chapter 10

_So sorry for the delay in getting this chapter posted. I thought that I had posted all of them but I missed one… so sorry please enjoy this chapter._

**Chapter 10:**

It was the following morning and Carter had started to somewhat become used to the routine behind bars. He was expecting a visit from his attorney today to talk with him about what kind of a plea bargain that the DA was willing to make with him. He was heartbroken that it had come to this but he was boxed in and there just didn't seem to be any other option for them right now.

"Carter," he heard a voice calling to him. "You have a visitor."

"Yeah," Carter sat up on the small narrow bunk that he had been sleeping on. He wasn't expecting the attorney to be there this early. He had been showing up after breakfast. It had taken some getting used to but he had finally managed to come to terms with the fact that he was taking the fall for something that he hadn't done. He climbed down and walked over to where the guard was standing now, one of many who he had come to know by sight now, "who is it Randal?"

"Some lady doctor." He said as he started to walk with Carter towards the visitor's area.

Carter had to admit that not many people had come to see him while he had been here. It wasn't sure though when he said a lady doctor who it might have been, for even Susan hadn't come to see him while he had been locked up. Carter never thought that he would see the day where he had to wear a bright orange jumpsuit and be escorted everywhere. During the day though they were pretty much allowed to wander freely through the locked facility. Watch TV, read, work out, it wasn't all that bad, not a place that he would chose to be but for now it was all that he had.

As they walked into the room full of steel chairs attached to the floor around metal benches, Carter couldn't believe his eyes. For sitting at the table was indeed Susan and she had this small hint of a smile on her face. He crossed over the room and sat down at the table next to her.

"How you holding up Carter?" Susan asked looking at him.

Carter had dark circles under his eyes and he was thinner than he had been, while they might have been getting three square meals a day the food left something to be desired. He didn't sleep all that well at times almost afraid to close his eyes. The sounds that were there at night gave him chills. "I'm okay."

"You don't look okay." She said back to him as she leaned over to hug him. "I thought you might like some news about things."

"Yeah," Carter said his tone rather flat with her, "I'm sure any news that you have will be better than the news my attorney is bringing me later today. As much as he didn't want to think about it, it had been all that he had been able to think about.

"Don't be too sure, I think that your attorney when he gets here will have some pretty damn good news for you." She paused for a minute, knowing that Carter probably didn't have access to the same information she had, "they are working on getting you out of here."

"What you are so full of shit." Carter said giving her a look of disbelief.

"They found Paul last night." Susan wasn't sure how to tell him about this. While catching Paul was good news she didn't want to upset him with the fact that he had gone after Abby a second time. "Abby remembered who stabbed her, and Paul made an appearance last night, I guess he thought he was going to finish what he had started."

Carter didn't know what to say when she said that "is Abby," he paused for a minute trying not to choke on his words, "is she okay?"

"Abby is fine, a little shaken up but she should be going home if Pratt hasn't already taken her there." Susan said touching his arm now, "she is starting to get her memory back Carter, and she knows that it wasn't you who did this, the police now know that it wasn't you who did this."

"Does it really matter that anyone knows that I am innocent?" Carter said looking down.

"Yes it does Carter, why would you say something like that?" Susan was worried about him now too.

"I have spent two weeks in a County Jail Susan. I have been locked behind these doors, treated like a common criminal and no matter what I said no one believed that I was innocent, everyone thought that I had hurt Abby. Do I have anything to go back to? Weaver, give my job away thinking that I would be going up the river?" His voice was different than Susan had ever heard from him right now.

"No you still have a job, you still have Abby. I wish to god that this hadn't happened to you but it did Carter. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry Susan." Carter said unable to look his friend in the eyes right now. "I'm sorry too."

"Things will get better Carter." Susan said, "We'll get you out of here and back home so that you can move on with your life. You still want to be with Abby don't you?"

"Of course I do." Carter said, "I love that woman she's everything to me."

"She needs you right now. She might not have been able to come down here and tell you that, or be here when you get to walk out of here a free man, but she does need you."

Carter didn't say anything back to Susan. He didn't have anything else to say. He just didn't want to believe that he would be leaving this place until they led him out themselves. He wanted nothing more than to be back home with Abby. Carter didn't want to get his hopes up that it was really going to happen. Especially with everything that his attorney had said to him. He had more questions than answers.

Later that day, Carter was led out of the Jail and back outside. He wasn't overly shocked when Susan was there waiting for him. He crossed over to where she was standing and then over to her car.

"You ready to go Carter." Susan asked him.

"Yeah I am more than ready to go." He replied as he got into her car.

Susan got in and started to drive them back towards the apartment. "Does she really want to see me?"

"Yes Carter she does. She was very relieved to hear that you would be home later today and she's been asked me every hour on the hour since this morning about when I was going to get you." Susan said as she negotiated them through the streets of Chicago.

He didn't know what to say, he really didn't have much to say, he was nervous, very nervous to see Abby. The car ride seemed shorter than he thought it would be and it wasn't very long at all before they were parked in front of the apartment once again.

He slowly climbed out of the car and made the walk up the stairs to the apartment, Susan right behind him the entire way. He reached for the doorknob but just couldn't turn it. He was too scared to actually go in there.

Susan put her hand on his back. "Go on ahead Carter. It is okay." She said her voice soft and gentle with him.

Carter took a deep breath and then opened the door taking a few steps into the apartment. He watched as Abby emerged from the bedroom upon hearing the door open. She didn't say anything she just looked at him. Both of them standing as if they were frozen in time. After a minute Abby took off into a run throwing her arms around Carter's neck hugging him tightly to her. She was so happy to see him, to know that he had come back to her after everything.

"I love you." Abby whispered as she clung to him.

"I love you too." He replied as he held the woman of his dreams in his arms now. He never wanted to be separated from her ever again. He knew that she was it, she was the only one that he ever wanted to be with.


End file.
